bathroom stalls » mileven

trente - act 1

"who are you?" mike yelled. he saw her again. her dark blue eyes were stormy as ever. "twelve?" he asked.

"no," the girl tsked, pouting slightly. "i'm one."

"one?"

"the original, the strongest, the best, the first of them all."

"arrogant," mike cut in. "you're an arrogant, narcissistic bitch."

the girl only smiled, shaking her head. "tell eleven i'll be coming for her. remind her that she can't hide from me forever."

"you-" mike angrily started, but he could only watch as the girl waved her hand and the dream world disintegrated.

mike woke up, startled. jane wasn't safe. jane or eleven. it was confusing now, to think of eleven as jane. what if jane was eleven? that would make more sense, but jane profusely denied it over and over again. he had to respect her wish, even if he knew she was wrong. she had to be wrong.

none of it made sense. he was always confused now. mike spent most of his morning mulling and thinking about it. he got ready for school, hugging his mom and running outside. making his way to school, he saw jane riding her own bike. he slowly caught up to her, smiling as her eyes lit up.

"hey mike."

"hi jane."

"i want to meet your friends," jane said, slowing down as they neared the school. "since i don't really have any."

"they missed you," mike whispered, forgetting that it was jane next to him and not eleven. jane murmured a reply, one so soft he almost missed it. he blushed, for she had heard him.

"no, they didn't."

at lunch, mike introduced jane to his group.

"i'm jane ives," jane loudly announced, blushing as tables around them turned to look at her. they returned to their lunches once they saw it was just jane.

"hey jane, i'm maxine, but i prefer max," max smiled, shaking jane's hand.

"lucas."

"i'm dustin henderson."

"will," will meekly said.

"hi, so-"

"do you know elizabeth?" dustin asked, lacing his fingers together.

"elizabeth?"

"my step-sister, elizabeth, but we call her el," will elaborated, glancing suspiciously at jane.

"you look alike," max continued, tilting her head and squinting.

"um, i transferred to hawkins high school a few weeks ago. i tutor mike in biology," jane replied, fixing her skirt. she wore a pink collared shirt with a grey skirt. over it, she wore a cream-coloured double-breasted coat, which she left unbuttoned.

"ahhh, so you're the new girl," dustin said and nodded.

"i guess that's me," jane finished softly and tucked a shrimpy strand of her hair behind her ear.

suddenly, will, who was sitting next to jane, reached for her arm and pushed her sleeve up.

"i knew it." jane's expression had turned to fear. she was freaking out. will held jane's arm up. it was faint but still clearly visible: the sloppy 011 turned 012 or maybe it really was just a sloppy 012.

"you're an experiment," lucas gasped.

"no- i- i'm not," jane argued, yanking her sleeve back over her arm.

"is she eleven?" dustin quietly asked.

"eleven?"

"eleven died," lucas snapped. "just let eleven freaking die already."

"lucas, you piece of shit!" mike exclaimed. "how could you say that!"

"no, mike, you listen to me! i spent a year consoling your sorry ass when you were depressed over a girl, a runaway you hid in your house for a week. no, she died at the snowball, and she needs to stay dead."

"that's a little harsh, lucas," max interjected. "she was my friend."

"you didn't even know her real name," lucas continued. he wasn't done yet. "you and eleven weren't friends, so don't delude yourself into thinking you ever were."

max sat back, shock evident in her eyes. max was very protective of herself. she didn't trust easily, and the trust she did give out was earned, not given. it was slowly breaking now.

"but you knew, mike?" will asked, turning that anger onto mike. "you knew she was one of them? an experiment? after they ruined my life-" he amended his words, noticing the dirty look lucas shot him. "our lives?"

"n-"

"i'm not her!" jane burst, standing. "i am not elizabeth or eleven or whatever you call her. i. am. jane. ives," she annoyedly enunciated each word, glaring at will. "and i was taken from my home to become a toy, an experiment. i was stripped of everything that made me human. so screw you all for taking the rest of it."

"jane-" mike started to say, reaching for her hand. jane skittishly moved backwards and grabbed her bag.

"don't try me."

"i'm sorry," will said and stood. max, horrified, pitifully looked at jane. dustin sat in silence, a terrible feeling rooted in his eyes.

"try me, push me, i dare you," jane powerfully said. it shouldn't have been possible for such a petite and tiny girl with such an ordinary name to pack that much power and anger and feeling and emotion into one sentence, yet she did.

there was no easy way to say it. eleven snapped. she stood, tilting her head and deviously smiling as troy's arm broke again. twice. she broke his arm in two places this time. troy screamed in pain, falling to his knees.

"try me," she mimicked troy's threatening tone, suddenly walking over to his body. "try me." she pushed him backwards, seeming to revel in the pain caused.

jane ives was a storm. she was a mess of emotions; she was art. each emotion was splattered across the canvas. every word and feeling and everything made her human. jane was wrong. she just couldn't realize that she was.

mike had to fix her, and he would bring her back to where it all started: the bathroom stall.